Lead Me Not into Temptation
by Ellen Smithee
Summary: Stefan comes for Caroline. Caroline/Stefan, past Caroline/Matt, implied future Caroline/Stefan/Klaus. Warnings: gore, dark!fic, dark!Stefan, character death  not the main pairing .


_**I.**_

_Caroline just wants it to stop. The buzz of the too-bright fluorescent lights in the restroom is deafening and all she can smell, all she can _taste_ is the blood on her face. She clings to Stefan, his strong muscles under her hands grounding her, making her feel safe, _normal_ even._

_"Shh, it's all right, Caroline," he says, his voice soothing her. "I promise you, I won't let anything happen to you." He leans back to look at her, his gaze intent, her heart fluttering as his thumbs stroke the sides of her throat. All of a sudden, the veins appear around his eyes and his fangs slide out. She gasps and tries to move away, but she can't; she's frozen in place. Stefan smiles and her insides twist in fear and something else-anticipation. _

_"Just give in, Caroline," he murmurs, leaning in to nuzzle her chin. "You know you want to."_

_Everything inside her is screaming for her to resist, but she presses against him, relief surging through her this time as she feels her eyes shifting and her fangs lengthening._

_"Yes..."_

Caroline awoke with a cry and sat up in bed, gripping her covers to her chest, breathing heavily as she tries to calm down. The dream had been too vivid, too _real_, for her not to know that it had been manipulated. Someone was there in the room with her, another vampire. She could _feel_ it.

"Wh-who's there?" she asked, peering into the gloom of her room. She thought she could make out a shadow by the dresser, but she wasn't sure. "Katherine?"

"No, it's me." Caroline clutched the covers closer as she recognized _that_ voice. She inhaled sharply as he stepped out of the shadow into the moonlight. _Stefan_.

"Hey," he said, sounding more like himself than he had in ages, not since he left with Klaus.

Caroline's fists clenched so strongly that they tore through the sheet and blanket, but she was barely cognizant of it.

"Get out," she whispered, her voice trembling.

"I will, Care, I just... I wanted... I _needed_ to see you."

His voice had just the right tone of earnest longing to make her chest tighten even though she knew he didn't mean it. She hated that he calls her _that_, that he was trying to manipulate her. It has never been about _her_ so why should it start being so now?

"Well, now you've seen me," she hissed. "So go."

Stefan looked forlorn, and she had to force herself not to reach out to him and comfort him somehow. He didn't deserve it, not after everything he'd done and what he'd become.

"Please, Caroline, don't be this way," he said. "I need..."

"Damon and Elena are together now." She blurted it out unthinkingly, but she wanted to hurt him somehow. Stefan stared at her for a moment, and then, to her surprise, he smiled.

"I know." He shook his head. "Let them. I don't care about that anymore." He took a step closer to the bed, his tongue darting out to moisten his lips. "I miss you, Care." He seemed to be about to say something else, but then stopped at the sound of the front door opening downstairs and her mother's footsteps as she entered the house. He gazed at Caroline for a moment and then said, "I'll be back."

The billowing curtains were the only sign he'd been there at all.

_**II.**_

Caroline didn't tell anyone about Stefan's visit. She knew that as soon as she did, it would suddenly be all about Elena again, how Klaus was trying to get to her through her friends, how Elena had to be protected at all costs, Elena, Elena, _Elena_. Caroline adored Elena, truly, but just this once she wanted to deal with this herself, to be the focus of Stefan's attention for just a little while longer. So she not only kept his visit her little secret, but, if she was very honest with herself, she even yearned for his return.

She didn't have to wait long before she got her wish.

-o-O-o-

Caroline looked around as she entered the Grill. Tyler was across the room giving Tina Fell a besotted smile, but he looked up to exchange a friendly nod with Caroline before refocusing his attention on his new girlfriend. With a pang of regret, Caroline sighed and turned to find a table of her own, gasping when she ran into a solid obstacle.

"Oh!" she said, a smile lighting up her face as she recognized Matt. "Hey."

Matt's eyes were full of longing for a moment, but then his jaw hardened and he looked away.

"Hey, Caroline." She flailed a bit in face of his cool tone, but she forced herself to remain cheerful.

"So, how've you been? We haven't talked in _ages_."

Matt shrugged. "Busy," he said. "I've been busy. And, uh, I've got to work now, okay? So..."

Caroline's smiled wavered. "Right. Okay. Sure. See you later."

Her chest ached as she watched him walk away and then she sighed. The only thing missing was Damon drinking at the bar, and the collection of ex-boyfriends who hadn't really wanted her would be complete.

Tears burned at the back of her throat, and she headed to the bathroom, not wanting to lose her composure in public. Once there, she leaned on the sink, closing her eyes as she took deep breaths, _willing_ the tears away.

"He doesn't deserve you. Neither of them do."

Caroline started and looked up to find Stefan standing behind her. She gazed at him in the mirror for a moment and then she turned to face him.

"What do you want, Stefan?" She tried to sound firm, but her voice wavered just a little.

"I've come for you."

Stefan hesitated and then he reached out to cup her cheek, stroking her cheekbone with his thumb. Caroline trembled at his touch, her heart pounding in both fear and hope.

"You're crazy," she whispered.

Stefan shook his head. "I'm not. The others don't want you anyway. You're just a burden to them."

Tears blurred her vision at truth in his words and he said, his eyes seeming to mirror her despondency as they gaze into hers.

"They don't see the real you, not like I do. You know it's true. And _I_ want you. I _need_ you. And I've seen the way you look at me, Care, the way you always have. I know you feel the same way. Come with me. Please."

"Stefan, no," she whispered, shivering as he slid his hands down her arms. He was right, though. Her feelings for Matt and Tyler had never compared with what she'd always felt for Stefan. "Don't ask me to do this. Klaus is evil."

Stefan grabbed her wrists and tugged her closer.

"Only by human standards," he murmured in her ear.

_What other standards do we have?_ she wanted to ask, but then he sealed his hot, wet mouth over the pulse point at the base of her throat, and she couldn't even _think_. Before she could collect herself, she heard the door open and Stefan's heat disappeared, leaving her bereft in its wake. She opened her eyes to find him gone.

_**III.**_

Matt was missing. No one thought anything was wrong at first, but after he didn't show up at school for the third day in a row, Alaric detained her after her last class to ask if she'd seen him. She promised to check up him, brushing off Alaric's warnings that Klaus had been seen in town recently. It wasn't like she didn't know that already. Somehow she knew Stefan wouldn't let Klaus hurt her.

Then her stomach twisted as she realized that she hadn't seen Stefan in three days either, not since that day in the Grill. She quickened her pace as she approached her car. She stopped as her phone rang, and she fished it out of her purse, her shoulders sagging in relief when she saw Matt's name on the display. She answered, starting to chatter at him right away.

"Matt! I was just going to see you. Where've you been? Everyone is worried sick!"

"Just around," Matt said. His voice was cheerful, almost too cheerful, and instinct made Caroline's stomach curl in fear. "You should come over. Stefan's here, and he says we're gonna have a party. Just the three of us."

Caroline's stomach plummeted and she stumbled as everything suddenly seemed to start spinning.

_Oh, Stefan, no..._

"I'll be right there."

She sprinted over to her car and jumped behind the wheel, tearing out of the parking space. Her mind raced in tempo with the car as she sped towards Matt's house. _Please don't hurt him, Stefan._

When she reached the house, an unknown sportscar was in the driveway. She glanced at the house and glimpsed a moving curtain. Someone was watching her. The front door swung open and her stomach twisted. What kind of game was Stefan playing?

Just as she was getting out of the car, her cell phone rang. She groaned when she saw Elena's name on the display. She really didn't need this right now, not when Matt was in danger.

"Hello, Elena."

"Caroline? Thank God! Where are you? You have to get back to the boardinghouse. It's... your mom. She's-"

Caroline sighed. Every since Liz had found out about all the vampire stuff again, it seemed like she'd been going out of her way to stick her nose into Caroline's business.

"Look, I don't have time for this right now, okay? Just keep her out of my hair."

"Caroline, wait! That's not it! Your mom is-"

Caroline sighed and hung up, setting the phone to go to voice mail. Squaring her shoulders, she set off down the walk to the house. Maybe Stefan was lost, but she could still save Matt.

-o-O-o-

Caroline stepped through the open door, looking around cautiously. She concentrated for a moment, relaxing somewhat when she heard the distinct sound of a heartbeat. Matt was still alive. She just had to make sure he stayed that way.

"Matt?" she called.

Matt poked his head out of the door of the living room.

"In here," he said with a grin. He waited for her and then gave her a quick hug when she reached the doorway. "I've missed you so much, Care."

She pulled away, giving him a gentle smile. Her stomach churned as she realized he must be under compulsion, and when she reached down to take his hands in hers, she could see clear ligature marks marring his skin. He'd been missing for three days. That was just enough time for the vervain he drank to wear off.

She looked around, freezing when she saw Stefan still standing at the window.

"Hey, Caroline," he said, his expression unreadable.

"Hey, Stef," she said, narrowing her eyes at him as she moved between them. She turned to Matt, gazing at him intently as she compelled him. "Go, Matt. Run. Get out of here. Now!"

Matt furrowed his brow in confusion and started to move towards the door, but then Caroline felt a rush of air blow past her and Stefan had Matt, his arm slung around Matt's neck in a stranglehold.

"Now, now, Caroline," he said. "You didn't _really_ think that was going to work, did you?"

Caroline's eyes filled with tears.

"Stefan, please," she said. "Don't do this. I'll do whatever you want, just don't kill Matt."

Stefan gave her a chilling smile.

"Oh, I'm not going to kill him, Caroline," he said. "You are."

With that, he sliced open Matt's throat with his fangs and thrust him at Caroline.

"No!" she shrieked, opening her arms to catch him. She held him up with one arm around his waist as she pressed her fingers to the wound on his neck, her eyes filling with tears. "No, please. You're gonna be okay, I promise."

Despite her soothing words, she could feel the veins crinkling around her eyes and her fangs emerging. She pulled her fingers to grab the scarf from around her neck, intending to press it against the wound, but they found their way into her mouth instead. Stefan let out a satisfied hiss as she sucked Matt's blood off her fingers with a wanton moan, her eyes closing as the sweet taste and smell filled her senses.

"Care," Matt murmured, his voice weak and fading.

Caroline's eyes flew open and she grabbed his shoulders in her claw-like fingers, pulling him to her and slashing open his jugular with her fangs. She closed her eyes as the blood of the open vein sprayed her, covering her in Matt's life elixir, and she felt _satisfied_, deep down to her bones, for the first time in her life. This, _this_ was what she'd been needing, what she'd been craving ever since she'd awoken in the hospital room a vampire. She swallowed down Matt's blood in great gulps, holding him in an iron grip as he struggled. When his sobbing cries became too much for her, she tore out his larynx with her teeth, spitting it aside before throwing herself onto his open throat again.

When the corpse was drained, she tossed it aside, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand as she surveyed the room. Her eyes lit on Stefan, who was watching her with an odd mixture of relief and horror on his face.

"C'mere," he growled, crooking his finger at her.

In an instant, she was upon him, her mouth claiming his as her hands tore his clothes from his body. When they were both naked, they tumbled to the floor next to the body, sliding through the blood and smearing it all over their bodies. She rode him hard and fast, tangling her hands in his hair and pulling his head back, covering his throat and chin with shallow bites that healed as soon as she made them. The smell of blood surrounded her, enveloping her and making her feel complete. Like she was _home_.

She let out a shriek as she started to come, and she held on tightly to Stefan as she rode it out, kissing him as his body shuddered beneath hers, as well.

"More," she whispered finally, pressing her bloody hand to Stefan's cheek as she clung to him. The hunger in his eyes, unsated and insatiable, mirrored hers. "I want more."

"You'll have it, Care, I promise," he murmured. "I'll give you the world."

"I do believe that will be _my_ pleasure, Stefan."

Stefan's body went rigid, for just a moment, but then he relaxed. He released her from his embrace, but remained beside her, looking up expectantly. Through the red haze, she recognized the speaker as Klaus. She tensed, ready to run if need be, but his eyes were on hers and she went still, something in his demeanor robbing her of her fear. He knelt before her and took her face in his hands, his touch gentle. His mouth was stained with blood as if he'd just fed himself and Caroline's teeth ached as she stared at it.

"You must be Caroline. You are just as magnificent as Stefan described." He leaned forward to brush the hair out of her face. "We three shall have such fun together. Welcome to our little family, my pet."

He pressed his lips to hers and she froze, starting to recoil as she recognized the scent of her mother's blood on his face, but then Stefan molded himself against her back and she found herself melting between them.

At long last, she was where she belonged.


End file.
